ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Sunday hailed Baghdad’s “notable and significant” progress in fighting corruption, citing Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index. 

Transparency International earlier this week released its 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, showing that Iraq had climbed two spots to rank 136th out of 182 countries. 

“This progress reflects the government’s firm commitment, along with the contributions of all public institutions, to strengthening the principles of transparency, integrity, and public sector governance,” Sudani’s office said in a statement. 

It further lauded the development as a “positive indicator” of upgraded trust in Iraq’s public institutions, stressing that necessary measures have been taken to reinforce transparency and combat corruption.

“This year-on-year progress in the international ranking comes as a result of the comprehensive efforts led by the government, which adopted anti-corruption as a key priority within its governmental program,” the statement added. 

Iraq struggles with endemic rampant corruption, and successive governments have struggled to tackle the phenomenon effectively. Large amounts of funds are routinely embezzled from state coffers, and the federal integrity commission has faced major difficulties in retrieving stolen funds. 

In the statement, Sudani’s office stressed that the index’s results “serve as an incentive to further strengthen efforts in the coming years to preserve and build upon this progress.” 

“It also commends the role of public institutions, each with its respective mandate, that contributed to achieving these outcomes,” it said.